Kino Otok visits the Betrib festival in Idrija: ‘The Miners’ Hymns’ and ‘Life of a Shock Force Worker’
The Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival is dedicated to exploring the diversity and colorfulness of film culture and art, with it’s programme addressing audiences throughout the year in various locations across Slovenia, most often in the Primorska region. The main venue of the festival is the coastal town of Izola at the beginning of summer, but for many years now, festival films have also visited Cerknica, Tolmin, Sežana, and Idrija. This year, we have designed the satellite events of the 21st edition of the festival with particular care, in close dialogue with local partners. On October 17 and 19, Kino Otok will visit Betrib – Festival of Industrial Culture in Idrija, which—this year also part of the official program of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025—celebrates Idrija’s industrial culture, weaves bonds of camaraderie and solidarity, and intertwines the old with the new.
On Friday, October 17, at 20.00, at the Idrija Film Theater we will screen The Miners’ Hymns (Great Britain, 2010) by Bill Morrison, a frequent guest of Kino Otok. Slovenia will host the premiere of this stunning documentary elegy that revives the memory of the mining heritage of northeast England through archival footage and music by the iconic Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Using rare archival footage, the documentary presents fragments of the social, cultural, and political life of miners—from everyday scenes in the mine to political protests and ceremonial parades. Morrison’s work is both a tribute and a warning, a quiet but powerful testimony to the social changes that have marked generations of workers. Video trailer: link.
The Miners’ Hymns (Great Britain, 2010)
On Sunday, October 19, at 18.00, a unique, recently restored Yugoslav classic, Life of a Shock Force Worker (Slike iz života udarnika, Bahrudin [Bato] Čengić, BiH [Yugoslavia], 1972) will close the Betrib festival at the Idrija Film Theater. The story of the film, which unfolds through a series of exceptionally beautiful tableaux vivant, depicts the fate of Adem, a miner from Bosnia, a foreman of a shock labor team that can extract 102 tons of coal in a single shift.
The film will be presented by Karpo Godina, legendary filmmaker and director of photography for Life of a Shock Force Worker, who will share his insights into the making of this unique masterpiece and the background of its visual language. Video trailer: link.
Life of a Shock Force Worker (Slike iz života udarnika, Bahrudin [Bato] Čengić, Bosnia and Herzegovina [Yugoslavia], 1972)
The Slovenian Cinematheque presents the film in collaboration with the Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival. The Life of a Shock Force Worker was restored as part of the Joint Restoration Project. The project was carried out in collaboration with the Sarajevo Film Center, the Austrian Film Museum, the Croatian State Archives – Croatian Cinematheque, and the Slovenian Cinematheque as part of the European Film Archives Association’s Classic Film Season program, with financial support from the Creative Europe – MEDIA.
The film program in Idrija has been prepared in cooperation with Betrib – Festival of Industrial Culture, which will take place from October 16 to 19, 2025. We invite you to check out the entire Betrib festival program: link.
